Health Atlas 2015 Twice as many sick leave due to mental illness

Number of sick days due to mental illness continues to increase
The number of sick days due to mental illness continues to increase in Germany. Since 2003, there have never been so many job losses due to depression, burnout and other mental illnesses as today. This is clear from the new BKK health atlas "Blickpunkt Psyche". The health insurance company warns against assuming that the number of mental illnesses is also increasing. Rather, those affected today would be more open with their illness and confide in their doctor. Consequently, more diagnoses are made.

Employees are increasingly absent from work because of mental illness
More and more often mental suffering is the reason for a doctor's visit. If the doctor makes a diagnosis such as burnout, anxiety disorders or depression, the employees are also missing more and more jobs. On average, those affected are unable to work for 40 days.

More sick leave due to mental disorders. Image: Gina Sanders - fotolia

Around 15 percent of all sick days with a medical certificate are now due to mental illness. Compared to 2003, the number of sick days has even more than doubled, as can be seen from the "Health Atlas 2015" of the BKK. The experts analyzed the data of 4.3 million employees.

But how is the increase in sick leave due to mental illness? "One of the explanations here is that people accept their mental illness and take advantage of health care. According to Franz Knieps, board member of the BKK umbrella association, employees are being sick on sick leave because of so-called F-diagnoses. "The nowadays more extensive knowledge of mental illnesses among general practitioners and general practitioners also contribute to the increase in sick leave due to mental health problems. Ten, fifteen years ago, patients with symptoms suggestive of mental distress were more likely to report non-specific physical complaints. "

No general increase in mental illness
According to the health insurance, there has been no general increase in mental disorders in recent years. "The diagnosis rates have approached the true prevalence over the last few years, they seem even outdated - especially in depression," said Prof. Frank Jacobi of the Psychological University of Berlin. "Maybe that's why we're dealing with overdiagnosis. A diagnosis is often unspecified or placed with only slightly impaired individuals in order to be able to offer support at all. However, the trend of continuous increases in sick leave due to mental health problems could also lead people to experience treatment too quickly and to seek help from 'normal', transient psychological strains. "

In addition, according to Jocobi, the ongoing digitization plays an important role. "Disease data collected by computer remains in the medical records of doctors, clinics, health insurances or pension insurers. Anyone who has ever received the diagnosis of anxiety disorder, depression or personality disorder will "track" this diagnosis. Thus, currently people with mental illness z. Systematically overestimated - speaking of a '21st century epidemic' in mental disorders would therefore be overly dramatizing. "

In Bavaria and Baden-Wuerttemberg depressions are diagnosed very often
Detailed analyzes of depression and burnout have also revealed major regional differences. "Diagnostic rates, sick leave and antidepressant prescriptions are not evenly distributed throughout Germany, it is reported fluctuation margins up to 43 times the highest value compared to the lowest," it says in a statement from the health insurance.

For example, in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg, the federal states with a particularly high quality of life, depression is diagnosed more frequently than in the north or east. Even in large cities such as Berlin, Hamburg and Munich, the diagnosis was made much more often than in rural areas.

While only 0.3 percent of the BKK insured in the Saale-Orla-Kreis (Thuringia) a burn-out was determined by a doctor, this proportion was in the district of Ansbach (Bavaria) at 3.4 percent. "These fluctuation margins can not be explained by actual different rates of disease in the regions. Rather, a correlation with regional indicators such as the density of doctors (neurologist, family doctor, psychiatrist, psychotherapist) can be detected, "informs the BKK.

Dr. Iris Hauth, President of the German Society for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Psychosomatics and Neurology (DGPPN), warned to read the numbers differentiated: "Mental disorders in the population have not generally increased. Recent epidemiological studies show that since the late 1990s, no significant increase is recorded. So we Germans today are not mentally sicker than twenty years ago. Rather, data from the BKK Health Atlas and other health insurance funds show that those affected are increasingly seeking medical and therapeutic help. One reason for this is certainly that mental illnesses are now more socially accepted. At the same time, the supply offers are better developed. "However, they still need further action from Hauth. "But despite these pleasing developments, the BKK Health Atlas reveals urgent need for action in the care of mental illnesses. Diagnosis, sick leave and therapy show large regional differences in Germany, especially in depression. These variations can not be explained by actual differences in disease frequencies or risk factors in the regions. Rather, they are also due to differences in the supply structure and the needs planning. Here the politics and the medical self-administration are required. You must urgently ensure in the requirements planning that mentally ill people throughout Germany receive the necessary help. "(Ag)